Playhouse



Dec'. 18, 1934. D. M. WARREN 1,984,666 v PLAYHOUSE yFi1ed Aug. 11, 1955 Y 2 sheets-sheet 1 D Dec. 18, 1934. D. M. WARREN 1,984,666

PLAYHOUSE' Filed Aug. ll, 1955 2 Sheets--Sl'ieel 2 @L Z5E Patented Dec. 18, 1934 uNlTiazD STATES PATENT OFFICE PLAYHOUSE Donald M. Warren, West La Fayette, Ind. Application August 11, 1933, Serial No. 684,686

7 Claims. (Cl. 46-37) which may be readily assembled and dis-assem-.

bled at will; to provide a house of the class de- Vas scribed which may conveniently be packaged for transportation and storage purposes; to provide a house of the class described which will be strong and rigid when set up and which will be eifectively held in set-up position; to provide a play-house structure in which a portion of a box, used for packaging the play-house when knocked down, is adapted to constitute a part of the setup house; and in general, it is the object of this invention to provide an improved play-house of the class described.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be understood by reference to the following specications, and accompanying drawings (two sheets) in which a play-house embodying a selected form of the invention is illustrated.

` In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation, certain portions being broken away and shown in section to more clearly illustrate the construction.

Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the right hand end of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a rear elevation. I

Fig. 4, is a section on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3, and Figs. 5, 6, and 7 are detail elevations illustrating the means for connecting the various parts of the structure.

Referring now to the drawings, the play-house or doll-house illustrated in the drawings includes a main house, portion 10, and a sun-porch portion 11, which is secured to one end of the main portion 10.

The'main house section 10 is set up on a base element 1 2, which may conveniently consist of a box section, either the top or bottom part of a relatively shallow box in which the otherl portions of the play-house are packaged ior distribution or storage. As indicated the base member 12 includes a main wall portion 13, which constitutes the floor of the house, and depending side anges 14 which rest on whatever surface the house is placed upon.

The front wall 15, generally' rectangular in shape and of suitable card-board or other sheet material, is provided at its bottom edge with a plurality, in this instance four tongues, or ears designated 15a, which project through suitable openings 13b provided in the door 13.

The ears and the openings just referred to and those hereinafter mentioned are preferably of a shape which results in a'n especially rigid yet separa-ble connection of the parts and which shape will presently be described.

In the following description ears formed integral with a part will be designated by the reference numeral for the part with the exponent a, and openings in a part will be designated by the reference numeral for the part with the exponent b.

End walls 16 and 17 are provided, and these 16 end walls are each provided with ears designated 16a and 17a respectively, such ears being adapted to project through openings 15b adjacent the rel spective ends of the front wall 15. Ihe end walls 16 and 17 are also provided with ears 16a and 17a 15 on their bottom ends, such ears being adapted to project through openings in the oor member 13. It will lbe seen that the end members 16 and 17 are attached by means of their ears to both the door member 13 and the frontwall 15. 1n 2@ as much as the connecting ears and openings are such as to firmly hold the parts together, it will be apparent that the front wall serves to space the end walls apart, and to maintain them in substantially parallel up-right relation. Also 25 that the end walls eifectively maintain the front wall in substantially vertical position, i. e., perpendicular to the oor part 13, it being understood of course that the front and rear edges of the end members are disposed at substantially 30 right angles to the bottom edges thereof, as shown in the drawings.

The roof member 18 which may conveniently be in the form of one piece, has a score line intermediate its Width to facilitate its bending 35 as at 19, to permit the roof member to assume a peaked shape to fit the angularly disposed top edges 16c and 17e on the respective end members. To lock the roof member in place, it is provided with openings such as 18h for receiv- 40 ing ears 16a and 17a, extending from the upper edges of the respective end members.

The chimney 20 preferably made of four pieces of sheet material is mounted on the roof in any desired location. The chimney consists of end 45 pieces 21 and 22 respectively and front and rear side pieces 23 and 24 respectively. These pieces are connected in rectangular formation by means of ears 23a and 24a extending from the opposite edges of the pieces 23`and 24 and pro- 50 jecting through openings 2lb and 22h in the respective end members 21 and 22. For mounting the chimney on the roof, the roof is provided at any desired location with additional openings 18h adapted to receive ears 23a and 24a, which 55 depend from the side members 23 and 24 respectively.

The structure thus far described constitutes what may be termed a shell in that it consists of merely the floor, front, ends, and roof, which parts are suicient to present the outward appearance of Ya toy house. As indicated in Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings, the front and end walls of the structure are embossed, printed, or otherwise provided with representations of doors, windows, etc. In this instance it is preferred to punch openings in the front wall 15 to represent windows, such openings being surrounded with suitable embossedrepresentations of window frames. Also the door illustratedA in Fig. 1 of the drawings is preferably formed so that it may be opened or closed, this being' accomplished by slitting the wall as indicated at and 26, and by scoring the wall as indicated at 27 to permit the door portion to be bent inwardly or outwardly from the normal plane of the front.

wall.

To more or less simulate the interior division of -a house into rooms the play-house is provided with a second-licor partition 28 intermediate the floor part 13, and the roof part 18.

vThe partition 28 is provided with ears 28a extending from its opposite ends and its front edge Iand adapted to project through additional openings 15b, 16h, and 17h in the front and end walls respectively.

To support the second-floor partition 28 inter.- mediate its length, there is provided a vertical partition 29, this partition being provided with The member is rigidly secured in place byD means of tongues 29a extending from the front edge of the member 29, and projecting through openings 30h in the member 30 and by means of a tongue 30a extending f rom the lower edge of the member and projecting through an opening in the floor member 13. It will be seen that the arrangement of the partition member 30 serves to form a wall spaced inwardly from the door in the front wall of the house. In other words it serves to provide a space in the nature of a vestibule in the house. Also the partition element 30 serves to prevent swaying of the house in a lengthwise direction by reason of its top and bottom edge engagement with the upper and lower flgor members. Because of the connection of the'member 30 to the partition-29 it will be seen that if the member 29 is caused to swing about eitherits upper or lower edge as a pivot the member 30 would be required to move with the member 29 as a rigid unit. Such movement however is eiectively resisted by the said engagement of the upper and lower ends of the member 30 with the upper and lower floor elements.

Another vertical partition 31 is provided substantially in continuation of the lower partition 29, the m'ember 31 being provided with ears 31a depending from its lower edge and projecting through openings provided in the door partition 28. It will be observed that two of the ears 31a extend downwardly through the same openings in the oor partitionf28 that receive the upwardly projecting ears 29a of the lower vertical partition 29. ',.This is readily permitted by reason of the inherent give and resiliency of material such as card-board. The upper end of the partition 31 is preferably shaped to t the roof, as clearly shown in Fig. 4 and ears 31a project upwardly through the openings 18h of the roof.

The structure thus far described consists in itself a complete play-house. However, .to render the structure more attractive, it may be provided with the sun porch 11, previously referred to.v In this instance, the sun porch is formed of front and rear members 32 and 33 respectively,

and an end member 34. 'I'he members 32 and 33 are provided with ears 32a and 33a respectively, which project through openings in the end wal1'17 for connecting the said front and rear members to said end Wall. The sun porch end wall is similarly connected to front and rear Awalls 32 and 33 by means of tongue and opening connections as clearly indicated. The oor member 35 is provided at its front, rear, and outer end edges with ears designed to project through openings in the respectively adjacent sun porch wall members and the inner end edge of the oor member 35 is adapted to be positioned as indicated at 35e on the marginal portion of the base member 12 outwardly of the end wall 17. 'I'he r'oof member 36 is mounted on the top edges of the sun porch walls by means of ears projecting upwardly from the respective walls, and extending through openings `in thelroof member and by means of ears extending from the inner edge of the roof member through openings in the adjacent wall member 17. A sort of decorative railing may conveniently be mounted on the roof member and formed of front and rear members 38 and 39 respectively and arr end member 40. The members 3 8 and 39 are provided with tongues 38a and 39a, which project through suitable openings in the end member 17, and the end rail element 40 is provided with tongues on each of' its ends, which tonguesare adapted to project through opening in the adjacent ends of the members 38 and 39. The rail members 38, 39, and 40 are also provided with depending ears which project through suitably located openings in the roof member 36.

'Ihe tongue or ear, and opening connections above yreferred to may be in the formno! plain ears and slots made so that the tongues or ears will snugly nt in the slots. However such an arrangement does` not long retain any degree of rigidity since the t of the tongues in the slots soon becomes loose, with consequent loosening of connections at all points, with the result that ridigity of the structure is lost. In this instance it is preferred to make the ears and openings substantially as illustrated in Figs. 5, 6, and 7. As shown in Fig. 5 the ear designated a is provided with an intermediate enlarged portion having a width designated W, which is somewhat greater than the inner end width I. The outer end width O of the ear is preferably considerably smaller than both the intermediate and inner end widths, as clearly shown.

'I'he openings are preferably of a form which provides a sort of clamping or wedging eiect on /ie side edges of the ears, which are projected through the openings. openings are inthe form of square or triangular openings, as shown in Figs. 6 and 7, the square In this instance the,

tending between and connected with said pair of walls adjacent corresponding edges thereof, said wallsconstituting outer walls of the play house and having ears depending from their lower edges and snugly fitting and projecting through said 'openings to thereby position said walls on said base.

6. In a paper board structure comprising parts adapted to be connected togetherin relatively angularly disposed relationship, means for connecting the parts in such relationship comprising an ear extending from one part and an opening in the other for receiving such ear, the

' ear having an inner end width approximately than the corresponding dimension of the opening, and the intermediate width of the ear being greater than said opening dimension, said intermediate width necessitating distortion ot the ear or opening to permit passage of said intermediate width portion through the opening and serving to lock the parts in their assembled relation. 7. In a paper board structure comprising parts adapted to be connected together in relatively angularly disposed relationship, means for connecting the parts in such relationship comprising an ear extending from one part and an opening in the other for receiving such ear, the ear v having an inner end width approximately tting the Vcorresponding dimension of the opening, the outer endwidth of the ear being less than the corresponding dimension of the opening, and both side edges of the ear being humped outwardly intermediate the inner and outer ends of the ear so as to provide an intermediate ear width greater than saidopening dimension, said and serving tolock the parts in their assembled relation.

DONALD M. WARREN. 

